FIONA Bruce has said that she did not think Question Time audience members would be so hostile.
Bruce, who replaced David Dimbleby as presenter of the BBC programme last year, said she was surprised at the “level of toxicity” she felt during the show and admitted to having been briefed on the appearance of actor Laurence Fox.
Earlier this year, the show became involved in a racism row after guest panellist Laurence Fox said “we’re the most tolerant, lovely country in Europe”, after audience member Rachel Boyle said Meghan Markle had been the victim of racism.
The 41-year-old actor suffered a barrage of criticism after claiming that the treatment of Markle was not racist, with him being dubbed a "white privileged male". He said: “It’s so easy to throw the charge of racism and it’s really getting boring now.”
The comments led to Ofcom receiving more than 250 complaints.
READ MORE: Laurence Fox dismisses criticism after Meghan ‘racism’ debate on Question Time
Speaking on the racism row, Bruce said that having controversial guests was part of the debating programme’s “unpredictable” format and that she was briefed on the issues that Fox may bring up on the show.
She told The Radio Times: “I had a briefing about Laurence, and what he might say.
“But the thing about Question Time is that it’s entirely unpredictable, so people will get into arguments.”
She added: “I’m all for passionate debate, and sometimes things can be heated, which is fine, up to a point. As long as we remember that we are human beings,” she said.
“I feel very strongly about that. I hadn’t anticipated that I would spend so much of my time last year saying, ‘we don’t talk to each other like this'."
The show was then further involved in controversy for "normalising racism" after sharing an anti-immigration rant from an audience member on its social media pages.
A woman asked the panel at what point the UK “should completely close the borders” to immigrants and complained about the number of people “flooding in” to the country and using public services.
Following the airing of the episode, the BBC shared the clip of the rant on Question Time’s social media pages with a caption that did not challenge the audience member’s argument, which was described by many as “misinformed” and “factually inaccurate”.
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